Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2007 Annual Conference

Medication Reconciliation Results—Discharge

The slide has two charts, one for inpatient and a second for outpatient discharge.

Chart 1 graphs compliance with medication reconciliation—inpatient discharge—from May 2007 to August 2007. Definition: Documented compliance with recommended Medication Reconciliation at discharge (physician and nurse). The baseline is 0% through the entire period. The fiscal year 2007 goal is about 90% compliance. Actual compliance was around 80% in May 2007, rising to 90% by July and reaching about 98% in August 2007.

Chart 1 graphs compliance with medication reconciliation—outpatient discharge—from May 2007 to August 2007. Definition: Documented compliance with recommended Medication Reconciliation upon discharge (physician and nurse). The baseline is 0% through the entire period. The fiscal year 2007 goal is about 90% compliance. Actual compliance was around 60% in May 2007, rising to 70% in June, 80% in July and 90% in August.

Notes:

Reconciling home medications and current orders is an important step at discharge as patients prior medications may have been held or changed during hospitalization or for a procedure. Discharge instructions provide a section for physicians to highlight changes and document new prescription information for patients. Nurses can then review the updated list with patients and provide education regarding these changes.